Cave Of The Yellow Dog (DVD)

...deceptively simple yet beautiful 'The Cave of the Yellow Dog' will make many reconsider their lives, ones filled with materialism, albeit this has been true of western and westernized cultures for centuries. We are given a look into nomadic life of as practised by the real-life Batchuluun family of rural Mongolia, who go about their daily business while the cameras roll. Oh, watch this and surrender yourselves to the three little children, who will ...
...7, the youngest is over 2).

The eldest girl, Nansal, is away at school in the city until the summer months, when she returns to live with her family in their tent and their herd of sheep on the plains. She's what I'd call scary smart and mature for her years, yet remains a child with her playfulness and curiosity. Yet, one marvels at the tasks given her (and her younger sibling!) by her mother in order to help out while their father ... more

We in the western or westernized world are utterly spoilt, in both good and bad senses of the word, by our civilisation of convenience. Once in a while, worn down by the stress of unnecessary detail that fills our days, one starts to ponder how to return to a simpler, stripped-down-to-essentials way of life - a life in which every task is related to survival.

The deceptively simple yet beautiful 'The Cave of the Yellow Dog' will make many reconsider their lives, ones filled with materialism, albeit this has been true of western and westernized cultures for centuries. We are given a look into nomadic life of as practised by the real-life Batchuluun family of rural Mongolia, who go about their daily business while the cameras roll. Oh, watch this and surrender yourselves to the three little children, who will totally steal your heart (Nansal, the oldest girl, seems about 7, the youngest is over 2).

The eldest girl, Nansal, is away at school in the city until the summer months, when she returns to live with her family in their tent and their herd of sheep on the plains. She's what I'd call scary smart and mature for her years, yet remains a child with her playfulness and curiosity. Yet, one marvels at the tasks given her (and her younger sibling!) by her mother in order to help out while their father is away on business in the city. I suppose such practice is necessary for the survival of these nomadic groups, and the children learn very early on about responsibility (even taking on jobs we would consider suitable only for grown-ups) while remaining beautifully innocent and adorable.

Despite their material deprivation, the children are also blessed with a perfect milieu for their curiosity, wont to play, and fertile imaginations. On this isolated land, they're pretty much left to their own devices, and can lie down on the grass and look at the clouds, or wander about this magnificent, treeless, windswept, rocky plain decorated by distant mountains and clean, clear streams. Like all young children, the Batchuluun siblings are able to draw loads of enjoyable play from whatever happens to be handy - be it pieces of dried yak dung, or a porcelain smiling Buddha (to name just a few of the film's many scenes of sheer, lovely innocence).

The touching story of Nansal and her newly found dog, Zochor, forms the anchoring narrative, and director Davaa interweaves with great skill and subtlety those scenes of mundane tasks with those small but meaningful events that gently push the plot along. Comfort and luxury are rare, but love is not - certainly not amongst the Batchuluus, and between Nansal and her dog. Immediate danger and trouble lurk in the form of marauding wolves and vultures, but rarely, if ever, from their nomadic neighbours.

And what of their philosophy of life? For one thing, I gained a fresh insight into the concept of reincarnation. The film explained in simple terms why a human life is considered to be invaluable by Buddhists. Of great import, too, is that living like the Batchuluuns leaves the least impact upon the earth, as you will see when they decide to pack up their tent and belongings and move on. These peoples truly respect Nature through their way of life, and the older Batchuluuns chant a song of farewell and thanks to the area as they light an oil wick set upon the ground on which their tent had stood.

By film's end, the Batchuluun family will have totally endeared themselves to us, and will accomplish such by just being themselves - a very Buddhist thing, that. This gentle film draws you into this fascinating world and way of life without resorting to overused, manipulative tricks. The film unfolds at an unhurried pace, but boredom never creeps in. The real-life actors are wonderful, and cinema verité is rarely this charming.

Everyone should really see this - if only to give harassed, bored or jaded viewers a wonderfully refreshing kind of cinema and view of life. Such is so rare in the present movie climate that is rife with shallow plots and characters, glitz and glamour, explosive special FX, fancy CGI animation, and loads of violence and gore. Writer-director Davaa is herself a Mongolian expatriate living and working in Germany. In the accompanying interview, she expresses a need and desire to share some old lessons from her native country through this film. We should all be grateful for her making her desire come true. This little treasure now takes its place in my Top Ten Films of All Time. Very highly recommended for the entire family.

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For self-styled Internet police out there, I've also posted a modified version of this piece on ciao.com. So there.

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Die Höhle des gelben Hundes (German title)
DVD offers Scene Access, an interview (in German with English subtitles) with director Byambasuren Davaa, Spanish & English subtitles, and a version dubbed in English (not recommended!).
Movie runtime: 93 mins.
List price is Euro 10,45. 

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